Save yourself the air fare and bring Hawaii home with this Koloa Mai Tai
Koloa Rum is the only rum distillery on the island of Kauai and is derived from the Hawaiian words Ko – Sugar and Loa – Lots of. The distillery was founded in 2009 and in 2010, the last sugar plantation on Kauai closed. The distillery purchased 90 tons of cane from that final harvest and are still using it today 2016. They have a lovely tasting room in Lihue and you come in and try 4 of the items on their product like for free and they will walk you through the history of the company. I can’t recommend this stop enough, this is very, very, good rum. They rotate which 4 items are available every day, so you have an incentive to come in again and again…and again!
Dark Rum – This is a very smooth rum that is perfect for topping a Mai Tai or any of their premixed cocktails. I would like to use it to make my JoeTisserie Pineapple again. A big part of creating the rich dark color is the use of vanilla beans to flavor the rum. The vanilla hits you right in the nose the minute you bring it up to your face.
Spiced Rum – Apparently, the spices they use are a proprietary secret, so the rumslinger wasn’t giving anything up to us, but it a very nice mix. Generally, I am not a big spiced rum guy, but this was enjoyable. The rumslinger thought that mixing it with Coke overpowered the spices, so she recommended mixing it with Cream Soda or Root Beer. She also said that mixing it with Pineapple Orange Guava Juice or as we call it in the islands…POG, produced something akin to drinking a Creamsicle. This claim will require some further research.
Coconut Rum – I am a huge Coconut Rum fan! Take my man card, I don’t care, I like coconut rum. Koloa makes theirs with real coconut, the smell and the flavor really come through. For this particular rum the rumslinger suggested it for Pina Coladas.
1 oz Coconut Rum
2 oz Coconut Cream
3 oz of Pineapple Juice
Add a little ice and blend
I would add one other suggestion, cut up a fresh pineapple, put it in a jar or bowl, coat with coconut rum, let it sit for a few hours or overnight, serve with toothpicks! Give this one a try it is perfect for a Summer BBQ or maybe a Pirates of the Caribbean themed Backyard Movie Night either way I promise you will thank me.
Coffee Rum – I am not a coffee drinker, but this was a real standout to me. It is delicious and makes a great drink with dessert and would even go well as an ice cream topping. It is made with authentic Kauai Coffee, it was good enough to make me re-think my coffee drinking habits.
If you find yourself in Kauai, do yourself a favor and visit the Company Store for a free tasting
Mai Tai – There are two pre-mixed Mai Tais you will find in my house, Trader Vic’s and Koloa’s Mai Tai. My wife prefers Trader Vic’s, but I find it a little too sweet. I like the Koloa Mai Tai, it isn’t as sweet and packs a pretty good punch. Pour a little of the dark rum on top and add a slice of pineapple and you can save yourself a trip to a hotel bar!
Pineapple Passion Rum Cocktail – This is my wife’s newest cocktail of choice. It has a lot of really nice tropical flavors and it only takes one or so to help get you in a festive mood. I haven’t tried it with the dark rum on top, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t be awesome.
Read more details about the products as provided by the company here.
Koloa has their whole product line available at their company store, which is really well done and lovely. We are able to find some of their products at our local Costco (only the Pineapple Passion Rum Cocktail as of late…please bring back the Mai Tai). But if you want to find it locally you can look here.
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